THE CALL OF EVERY HUMAN PERSON

20150903 THE CALL OF EVERY HUMAN PERSON

Readings at Mass

First reading

Colossians 1:9-14 ©

Ever since the day we heard about you, we have never failed to pray for you, and what we ask God is that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will. So you will be able to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects of you, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions you do and increasing your knowledge of God. You will have in you the strength, based on his own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.

  Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.

Psalm

Psalm 97:2-6 ©

The Lord has made known his salvation.

The Lord has made known his salvation;

  has shown his justice to the nations.

He has remembered his truth and love

  for the house of Israel.

The Lord has made known his salvation.

All the ends of the earth have seen

  the salvation of our God.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth,

  ring out your joy.

The Lord has made known his salvation.

Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp

  with the sound of music.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

  acclaim the King, the Lord.

The Lord has made known his salvation.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.2Thess2:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Through the Good News God called us

to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Alleluia!

Or

Mt4:19

Alleluia, alleluia!

Follow me, says the Lord,

and I will make you into fishers of men.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 5:1-11 ©

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

  When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.

  When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

THE CALL OF EVERY HUMAN PERSON

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Col 1:9-14; Ps 97:2-6; Lk 5:1-11

What is the purpose of life?  What are you living for?  What are you called to do?  These are questions that we must answer before we can embark on anything purposefully.  This is true in the case of someone who wants to build a house.   He must know the end before he can decide on the means to accomplish it.  The design of the house must be conceived before one can begin the construction.  Without a clear picture of the outcome we will end up building something that cannot be used, or poorly constructed house.

Indeed, we must search for our vocation in life above everything else.  Only by living out our vocation, can we find real happiness.  Life is more than just doing well in our studies, finding a good job that pays well and acquiring wealth and status in life.   As Jesus asked us, “What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life?  Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?” (Mt 16:26) Otherwise, like a silly man who builds his house without a plan, we will waste much time studying and working for something that we will not be using.

However, if we are clear of the will of God for us and what we are called to do in life, our lives will be fruitful and passionate.  St Paul wrote, “So you will be able to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects of you, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions you do and increasing your knowledge of God.” When we live out the will of God for us, we will find peace in our hearts and good works will flow out from and through us.  Most of all, “You will have in you the strength, based on his own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.”  Indeed, the strength of doing well will no longer be merely hard work alone or discipline and pure effort, but we will receive a special grace, an inner strength and wisdom to accomplish what we are called to do.  We no longer do it alone but with the wisdom, conviction and love that comes from God.  He will empower us to do well in whatever we do because His Spirit rests in us and works in and through us.

What then is our vocation?  In truth, regardless of whichever vocation we are called to, there is only one vocation which is, as the gospel tells us, to be fishers of man.  Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.”   Indeed, all vocations are for the service of humanity and for the glory of God. We are blessed with talents and resources to bless humanity and the world.  We do not work for ourselves but for others.  This was what Jesus told His disciples, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 16:24f)

Only when we serve God and humanity can we find meaning and purpose in life.  If we serve only ourselves, we can never find real happiness.  Even if we indulge ourselves with pleasure and have a good time, the pleasure that we enjoy will just last as long as we are in it.  If we were to enjoy a feast, we enjoy the taste of it.  But once we are satiated or when the feast is over, our pleasure also ends.   However, if I were to give or share our food with someone who is poor, we will derive great satisfaction and an inner joy in us knowing that someone is fed and enjoyed the food.  That joy is doubled and we continue to remain in that joy even when the meal is over.  Such is the joy that comes from serving God and others.  That is why Jesus asked, “What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life?  Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?” (Mt 16:26)

At the end of the day, service to God and humanity means to lead them back to God and help them to live their lives meaningfully like ourselves.  It means to help others find their primary vocation as God’s children and then to live out this vocation in their lives by finding out His will.  As the psalmist says, “The Lord has made known his salvation; has shown his justice to the nations.  He has remembered his truth and love for the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, ring out your joy.”  When we do good or when we serve other, our ultimate goal is to reveal to them their calling and that God is their salvation.

But vocation stems from our own discovery of our identity and the love and mercy of God.  This is what the gospel is inviting us to do.  Like St Peter, we are called to experience His unconditional love and mercy.  We cannot be fishers of men and women till we have been caught by the love of God.  Without first discovering our own identity as God’s beloved, we cannot live out our lives convincingly as God’s children or be able to bear the crosses that come from sacrificial love joyfully.  St Paul’s strength and calling to be Christ’s apostle came from his own experience of salvation.  He wrote, “Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.”  St Peter who had the miraculous catch too, said to the Lord, “’Leave me Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners.”

Have you found the love of God? Have you experienced His mercy for you?   Without this experience, God remains our debtor and so is our fellowmen.  Even when we help others or serve God, we do it with a feeling of smugness and self-sufficiency, not one of gratitude and humility for all that we have received.   However, when we are loved by someone even when we do not deserve it, we will live for that person, just like our friend or our spouse.   When we are loved, it is only natural to do everything to please him or her and share in his or her life.  This explains why after the miracle, the apostles, “Bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.”

So if you have not found your vocation in life yet, then you must take the courage as St Peter did, by putting out to the deep.   We need to take the risk by deepening our relationship with the Lord and strengthen our faith in Him who calls each one of us by name.  This was what the Lord said to Peter, “Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.” Even though they were hesitant, St Peter replied, “Master, we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.”  Yes, it is not by our strength alone but by His grace, that we will find what we are seeking for in life.   “And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.”  The Lord wants us to experience the power of His love and mercy.  We must be ready to put out into the deep.

How?  We must pray and listen to His Word.  This is what we read in the gospel. “Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Genesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank.”  If Peter could take the leap of faith at the command of the Lord, it was because he had been quietly listening to Him preaching the Word of God.  The Word of God prepared his heart and disposed his mind to obey the Lord.  So too, no one can find His will without serious prayer, listening to the Word of God and discerning with someone mature in faith.  Only Christ can reveal to us the plan of His Father so that we can respond to His call to share in His life and work by catching men for God and revealing the salvation of God for all of humanity.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

© All Rights Reserved

THE DYNAMISM OF THE GOOD NEWS

20150902 THE DYNAMISM OF THE GOOD NEWS

Readings at Mass

First reading

1 Thessalonians 5:1-6,9-11 ©

You will not be expecting us to write anything to you, brothers, about ‘times and seasons’, since you know very well that the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night. It is when people are saying, ‘How quiet and peaceful it is’ that the worst suddenly happens, as suddenly as labour pains come on a pregnant woman; and there will be no way for anybody to evade it.

  But it is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a thief. No, you are all sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober. God never meant us to experience the Retribution, but to win salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that, alive or dead, we should still live united to him. So give encouragement to each other, and keep strengthening one another, as you do already.

Psalm

Psalm 26:1,4,13-14 ©

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

The Lord is my light and my help;

  whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

  before whom shall I shrink?

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

There is one thing I ask of the Lord,

  for this I long,

to live in the house of the Lord,

  all the days of my life,

to savour the sweetness of the Lord,

  to behold his temple.

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness

  in the land of the living.

Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.

  Hope in the Lord!

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

Gospel Acclamation

Heb4:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The word of God is something alive and active:

it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.

Alleluia!

Or

Lk7:16

Alleluia, alleluia!

A great prophet has appeared among us;

God has visited his people.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 4:31-37 ©

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.

  In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, ‘What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’ And reports of him went all through the surrounding countryside.

THE DYNAMISM OF THE GOOD NEWS

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Col 1:1-8; Lk 4:38-44

The scripture lessons of today speak about the Good News of God.  Unfortunately, the fact is that today the Good News we proclaim does not sound like good news.  Not only in our preaching but even in our lives, we reflect not only stale news but even at times bad news.  But stale news is a contradiction in terms.  News, to be news, must be new.  If it is no longer new, then we can hardly call it news.  But it is not just news that we are called to proclaim, but the Good News.

How is it that our Good News has become stale or bad news?  The reason given in today’s gospel is simply this:  we want to domesticate the good news of God.  In the gospel, the people wanted to keep Jesus all for themselves.  So they tried to prevent Him from leaving.   Jesus must have been tempted to stay back in the village where He had healed many people.  He had indeed become very popular and well-sought after.  In fact, when things were going on so well for Him, it would not have made sense for Him to leave the place.  Yes, Jesus must have felt the temptation to build His own kingdom.  After all, who would want to leave a place when one is loved, known, idolized and always the center of attention?

There is a great temptation for us today to domesticate the Good News by insisting that everything remain unchanged.  Indeed, in the world today there is an opposition between the traditionalists and the progressives.  On one hand, there are those who do not want to see the Church changing to adapt to the new situations and the demands of our time.  They want the gospel to remain as it is and face the danger of redundancy as the message no longer resonates with our people.  Truth of course cannot be changed, but we need to know whether we are holding on to the truths or simply the facade.  Truths need to be applied to new situations because of new challenges.  Truths need to be represented in a new language and in a new context.

The demons too wanted to domesticate the good news by deceiving us into believing that we know Jesus when we do not.  That was why they proclaimed Jesus publicly as the Son of God.  Of course, Jesus rebuked them.  Why?  One might wonder.  Simply because Jesus knew that if the people heard from the demons that He was the Son of God, they would have been blinded from searching for Christ themselves.  The people would have deceived themselves into thinking that because they knew about His origin, they also knew Him personally.  Then they would not be bothered to seek Jesus for a deeper relationship.  It is just like those who have attended some talks on prayer and leave the seminar thinking that they now know all about centering prayer when in truth they have never even put it to practice on their own.  They have mistaken an intellectual knowledge of God and prayer for personal knowledge.   Indeed, for many of us who have been long in the faith, we think we have heard everything and that there is nothing more for us to learn.  We are no longer docile, receptive and teachable.   Those of us who study too much theology have a danger of thinking that we know much about God when our knowledge is mere cerebral knowledge, a knowledge that does not even affect the way we live our lives.  When there is no radical conversion or integrity of life in accordance with what we know or teach then we should be wary of thinking that we have the Good News.

How, then, can we preserve the Good News so that it will always remain good and fresh?  We can do so only if we recognize that God and life are dynamic.  Anything that is static is dead.  They are found only in the cemeteries and museums.  Anything that is alive is always dynamic.  Therefore, we must avoid the danger of settling down to our comfortable and set ways of living.  This can manifest itself in many ways.  For example, many of us get used to the routine of Church practices; the routine of parish life; the routine of prayer life.  Faith has become merely a culture, a way of life that we live without thinking or understanding.  We are doing what good Catholics must do, observing all the customs and laws but often without understanding and personal conviction.  At other times, it could be the set ways of thinking, the fixed ways of praying and understanding God in our lives; the lack of courage to change, to take risks and to venture out.   Undoubtedly, it is less risky to maintain our status quo than to take up new challenges in life.  But the fact is that, when we settle for a perpetuation of our status quo, we are settling for less in life.  Life will remain stagnant and there will be no growth.

On the other hand, those who do not enslave God and enslave themselves to their comfort zones and are willing to dance with the dynamism of life, will always find life alive.  Take the Christians in the first reading for example.  They were really living the Good News because they were in love with each other.  Of course, love is always creative and dynamic.  That is why people in love are always full of surprises.  When we fall out of love, creativity also dies.  Indeed, Jesus was a man who was truly alive because He had this deep love for His fellowmen.  That was what motivated Him to move on and to declare in no uncertain terms to those who wanted Him to stay that “To other towns I must announce the good news of the reign of God, because that is why I was sent.”  Indeed, if Jesus had chosen to stay, and even if He had been of use to the people there, it would have been more for Himself than for His fellowmen.

For this reason, we need to let go.  To the extent that we are willing to let go of our security and our needs, to that extent we will find life challenging and exciting.  But we can let go only if, like Jesus, we withdraw daily and often to re-examine our motives for doing things.  Prayer helps us to keep our perspectives right and prevent us from settling down to our neat concepts about God and life and our daily living.  Indeed, when things are getting too comfortable for us, perhaps, it is time for us to change.  In a nutshell, the Good News can retain its vigour and power only when we realize that we are pilgrims along the way.  Like Jesus, we must always move on in life, for that is the very nature of life and our calling.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

© All Rights Reserved

REGAINING THE SPIRITUAL AND MORAL AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH

20150901 REGAINING THE SPIRITUAL AND MORAL AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH

Readings at Mass

First reading

1 Thessalonians 5:1-6,9-11 ©

You will not be expecting us to write anything to you, brothers, about ‘times and seasons’, since you know very well that the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night. It is when people are saying, ‘How quiet and peaceful it is’ that the worst suddenly happens, as suddenly as labour pains come on a pregnant woman; and there will be no way for anybody to evade it.

  But it is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a thief. No, you are all sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober. God never meant us to experience the Retribution, but to win salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that, alive or dead, we should still live united to him. So give encouragement to each other, and keep strengthening one another, as you do already.

Psalm

Psalm 26:1,4,13-14 ©

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

The Lord is my light and my help;

  whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

  before whom shall I shrink?

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

There is one thing I ask of the Lord,

  for this I long,

to live in the house of the Lord,

  all the days of my life,

to savour the sweetness of the Lord,

  to behold his temple.

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness

  in the land of the living.

Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.

  Hope in the Lord!

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.

Gospel Acclamation

Heb4:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The word of God is something alive and active:

it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.

Alleluia!

Or

Lk7:16

Alleluia, alleluia!

A great prophet has appeared among us;

God has visited his people.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 4:31-37 ©

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.

  In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, ‘What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’ And reports of him went all through the surrounding countryside.

REGAINING THE SPIRITUAL AND MORAL AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 TH 5:1-6, 9-11; LK 4: 31-37

What is the greatest challenge of the Church in this century?  It is moral decadence. This is not surprising, considering how history has developed in the last few centuries.  In the 19^th century, the Church was faced with the challenge of atheism, which sprang from an intellectual denial of God and an emotional anger at the presence of evil, sin and innocent suffering in the world.  Atheism, which is a rejection of the idea of God, in turn led to the absence of God in the world.  The 20^th century was an era of secularization, where people lived their lives as if God is dead.  Without a conscious recognition of God’s presence in our lives and in society, we have arrived at a culture without morality and values.  The rejection of God as the absolute will necessarily lead to amorality, since there is no longer any basis for truth.  From being amoral, the next stage would be immorality.

For this reason, the first reading from St Paul is a stark reminder of the need to be alert to the presence of sin and evil in our lives.  St Paul warns us that darkness and evil are real.  They come into our lives in a subtle way, “like a thief in the night.”  So, too, in the gospel we see Jesus combating with the devil and exorcising the possessed man.

Indeed, even the Church has not been spared.  We are living in trying times.  From members to Church leaders, we have become insensitive to sin and goodness.  Living in the world, we cannot but also be influenced by the secular, amoral and materialistic values of the world.  So insidious is the presence of evil that even Church leaders have been led astray due to greed, lust and relativism.  When the devil attacks Church leaders and when we fail, then the moral authority of the Church is eroded.  That is what the world wants.  This explains why the Catholic Church is being singled out, in particular for its sex scandals, as if such problems are peculiar to the Catholic Church alone.  By using us as the scapegoat for the world, there will no longer be any moral force able to deal with those who choose falsehood and selfishness over truth and love.

Why is it that we are living in darkness when we are supposedly the “sons of light and sons of the day”?  According to St Paul, it is because we are asleep.  We are so intoxicated by the world that we go on sleeping.  Thus, he exhorts us, “we do not belong to the night or to darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober.”  Indeed, to recover our spiritual and moral authority, we must stay awake and be alert to what is happening in the world and to ourselves.  We must be watchful and not be deceived, like those who said, “’How quiet and peaceful it is” for that is when “the worst suddenly happens, as suddenly as labour pains come on a pregnant woman; and there will be no way for anybody to evade it.”

If we are to regain our authority we must turn to Jesus our Master.  The gospel tells us that He taught with authority and “his teaching made a deep impression” on His listeners.  To teach with authority does not mean that He preached eloquently.  Rather, it was when He preached with conviction, both in words and in His life, that the effects were seen in the lives of those who heard Him.  Even the devil obeyed Him. Hence, the people exclaimed, “‘what teaching!  He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’”

The question we need to address is, where was the source of Jesus’ authority?  It lies in His consciousness.  Jesus knew who He was and where He came from and what His mission was.  He was conscious firstly of His Father.  The gospel tells us that it was Jesus’ Abba experience that gave Him His identity and mission.  This is described in the Baptism of Jesus at the beginning of the gospel.  Such intimacy with the Father was already present in the life of Jesus at an early age.  At the temple of Jerusalem, He told His mother that He had to be in the Father’s house doing His Father’s business. Being so identified with the Father in His being, Jesus could say that He and the Father are one.  He knew He came from Him and that His goal was to return to Him.  Because the identification with the Father was perfect, He knew that He was the unique son of the Father.  Consequently, even the devil admitted, “I know who you are: the Holy One of God.”

Consciousness of sonship of course implies a sense of mission.  To be the Son of the Father and to share in His life and being implies that there is mutual willing and knowing.  This is brought out so clearly in the gospel of John when Jesus said that His food is to do the will of the Father and that whatever the Son sees, He would do.  Many times too, in the gospel, the Father was the One who had sent Him.

Finally, it was through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which we read in yesterday’s gospel, that the dynamism and effectiveness of Jesus’ mission was made clear.  Without the Holy Spirit, He would have been powerless in His mission.  It was the Holy Spirit in Him that empowered Him to act on behalf of the Father, giving Himself completely for the mission even unto death.

If this was the case for Jesus in His ministry, then we too must be conscious of who we are.  In order to stay awake and be sober, we must first follow Jesus by intensifying our communion and union with the Father.  For us, the way is through intimacy with Jesus who will lead us to the heart of the Father.  So intimacy and communion are vital.

Secondly, we must treasure our sonship in Christ given to us at baptism.  Quite often we do not realize the privilege that has been given to us. We take our sonship for granted.  In some Catholic countries, they try to emphasize the dignity of our baptism and adopted sonship by celebrating their baptism day rather than their birthday.  This is because eternal life given to us at baptism is even greater than simply the physical life given to us by God.  Unless we are aware of our sonship, we will not be able to live our lives “as sons of light and sons of the day.”

Through our sonship, we are called upon to share in the mission of Christ.  Being heirs with Christ in baptism, we also share in His mission, suffering and glory.  This means that a true Christian would be one who would give himself completely to the mission.  For Jesus, He had only one mission in life, which was to do the will of the Father by proclaiming the kingdom of God.  For us as baptized Christians, we should have only one mission in life, which is to give ourselves completely to the mission of Christ and the Church.  There must be no other mission or interest in our lives except to proclaim Christ to the world.

Thus, it is important that we pray for a renewal of anointing of the Holy Spirit today.  The Holy Spirit which empowered Jesus in His ministry is the same Spirit that will also help us to grow in holiness and give us power in our mission.  Only through the conscious recognition of the Holy Spirit in our lives, can we become more identified with Jesus in the way we live our lives and in our whole being, so that when others see us they could say, “we have seen the Holy one of God.”

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

© All Rights Reserved